Haggling @ Flickr.com

Saving Money by Haggling

Bargaining

It is defined as an act of bargaining in a petty, quibbling
manner.Haggling is grabbing the opportunity to get what you want at lowest
prices in a bargain store. Before you get carried away, let us first understand
how to act, be involved and know the importance of haggling whole year round.

How it works

1.
Immediately
lower the seller’s opening price. Our tendency is to buy the item lower
than the tag price or the seller’s offering.
In many bargain stores, we immediately lower the price for the items we
want to get.

2.
Flinch
when you heard the opening price. Show eyes of disbelief or visible shock
dramatically at the opening offer. Clutch your chest as if you are having a
heart attack. You should be observant of your surroundings. The negotiating
party may have other price in mind. Don’t be afraid to ask, “You had something
else in mind?” Wait for the result.

3.
Split the
difference. If the other party offers to split the difference between his
last offer and your last offer, take the midpoint as actually being his last
offer-and split the difference between your offer and that. Is it confusing? If
yes, you can ask the help of haggling service site.

Where to Haggle

Before you get carried away with the face-to-face haggling,
see if you can get a better deal online. It will help budget your time and
avoid too much hassle.

Try sending your request to Haggle4me (www.haggle4me.com). Tell them what you want and how soon you
need it and their team of hagglers will look for the lowest prices on the
Net. Remember one thing, you don’t buy
from the haggler-they simply tell you where to get it cheaper. For example, you
can get it cheaper from eBay or Amazon. In return, they get 20% of the saving you
will be keeping if you choose going to the store. If you beat the haggler by a
lower price yourself, you don’t pay anything. “It’s a win-win situation,” says
Steve Dixon, co-founder of Haggle 4me.

Hunting for
Bargains

Internet is a great place to hunt for bargains but we can
spend hours going from site to site checking product details. Recommended site
is www.choiceit.com which aims to put you in control. This
comparison-shopper site uses clever technology that lets you narrow your search
by creating a list of preferences. The
site also stays up to date as prices and products change. Photos and graphics
are used extensively to keep it informative and easy to use. The good thing of
this site is that it has no pop ads.

Be a Haggler

If you are more daring and pretty good at hunting bargains
yourself, you could work from home using your computer. You could always sign
up as a haggler. Try it now. It will
become another income-generating site for you, aside from Hub Pages. I did it
already.

Haggling in the USA

We, sailors used to buy latest electronic products in the USA whenever we have enough budget to buy it as we go ashore.

I once heard about comparing prices from this and that store in 2002 with the help of our Filipina agent in Norfolk, Virginia. She was the one who introduced us to the sales agents at Wal-Mart and she said,we wanted to buy the most affordable laptops. With her help, the haggling began.

One of my fellow sailor argued that it's better to buy at Circuit City or Best Buy, the two close competitors of Wal-Mart. There was a little bit confusion from the salesman but regained his composure by offering a lower price and a rebate if one of my colleagues will buy a laptop computer with a printer. So there, when the negotiation was sealed, and the merchandise was inspected for defects and tested, there was a sense of relief and satisfaction to both parties.

Since we were transient buyers or costumers, our Filipina friend can refund the taxable amount from the electronic products we bought from the store. This was possible when we presented our shore passes and the xeroxed copies of our seaman's book and passport with US visa.

The same haggling sequence also happened at several ports Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, etc.) in the US with the help of our agents.